rallying

Pluralrallyings

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of rally.

   Supporters were rallying outside the courthouse as the verdict came in.

   Rallying the volunteers before dawn, she handed out the day's assignments.

   Note

   Two families of meaning share this -ing form: gathering again (troops, spirits, falling prices) and the lighter sense of teasing someone good-humoredly. When Letitia Elizabeth Landon writes in Francesca Carrara (1834) that "Mademoiselle went on rallying," she means chaffing, not mustering. The object usually tells you which one is meant: rallying supporters brings them together, while rallying a friend pokes gentle fun at them.

2. 2
   nouncountable or uncountable

   The act of one who rallies: bringing people or strength together for a renewed effort or recovery.

   The rallying of public support saved the old theater from demolition.

   His tireless rallying of the team's spirits became legendary among the staff.

   Similarmobilization, marshaling, mustering, gathering

   Note

   The noun can be counted when each occasion is separate, and its plural is rallyings. A 1935 issue of Worship: A Review Devoted to the Liturgical Apostolate praises "public rallyings around the banner of Christ the King." Used without a plural, it names the activity itself, as in the rallying of support. It often pairs with around or behind a cause, a leader or a flag.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   A wide-ranging form of motorsport combining various competitive elements, such as tests of speed and navigation.

   Rallying demands a driver who can read both the road and the co-driver's notes.

   She switched from circuit racing to rallying for the challenge of unfamiliar terrain.

   Note

   The motorsport name behaves like other sport names: it takes no article and no plural. Drivers take up rallying or compete in rallying. That sets it apart from the act of gathering, which can be counted as rallyings. In the sport, a driver and a co-driver race against the clock on timed stages and are scored on total elapsed time. Unlike circuit racing, the cars do not race wheel to wheel.

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